Motorsport UK has created a new motorsports 'fan
club' to try and spread the message amongst non-believers and attract new folk
to the sport while providing existing fans with the chance to get a bit more
involved and closer to the action. This idea marks another new step for the
new-look governing body. Hopefully it's only a start.
Pre-event choreographed autograph sessions are all very well, but fans
and followers these days want more. They want to see their heroes up close and
to hear from them first hand. So the news that this new initiative will include
‘Evening With’ events must be welcome.
It brings to mind those Rally Forums of
old that were once an integral part of rallying before the arrival of 'social
media' when rally stars would gather as a panel to be interviewed and questioned
in an auditorium, be it a car showroom or a pub lounge ahead of rallies or at
club nights.
Some of these events were quite raucous, depending on guests and
hosts, but always good fun. Mind you these were staged in the days of 'non-PR speak'
and the politically incorrect when drivers and co-drivers spoke their mind
amongst friends away from the prying eyes of team managers and sponsors PRs.
Remember the rollicking good nights with
the Rothmans Rally Team in main Ford dealer Wylie's of Glasgow ahead of the
Scottish Rally? And those who couldn't get in watching through the showroom windows
on the pavement or the 'Flying Tee-Shirts' in the Aros Hall in Tobermory on Mull?
And what of the rally nights in the Ladbroke Hotel before the Snowman and the bunfights
before the Granite in the Skean Dhu at Aberdeen, and of course the pre-McRae
Rally nights in Perth and Aberfeldy? Aye, them were't days, eh?
Or were they? Was such entertainment just
a product of its time? Is it relevant now? Would folk come and watch and
listen? Or are we all glued to those small palm sized screens in our hand? Time
for Motorsport UK to find out, eh? For sure we need to do something.
The full release is here:
